Not while I'm around
by Who am I. Well. I'm just Me
Summary: Based on a lovely song. IT'S BROTHERLY TIME!


Sadly… I don't own them. DAMN YOU NICK!

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**Not while I'm around**

"N-no… no… g-get away from me!" Mikey mumbled in his dream… or in this case, nightmare.

In his nightmare he was being cornered by The Shredder. His brothers had come to protect him. But one by one, they fell down to ground… dead.

"And now… Michelangelo. You will join your brothers… FOREVER!" The Shredder said raising his gauntlet.

"No… n-no… No… NOOOO!" Mikey yelled. He woke up sweating and breathing rapidly. He covered his face trying to forget the whole thing, but the image of his brothers dying in front of him was too much for the kind-hearted turtle.

Mikey had been having the same nightmare since Leo went to Japan for his training with the Ancient One; though his brother was finally back, he still had the same horrific nightmare every single night.

Mikey left his room still trembling and sobbing a little; one by one, he went to check out his brothers' rooms. First ones were Don and Raph; they were peacefully sleeping. Mikey sighed in relief and went to his blue masked brother's room; he opened the door very slowly trying not to make any sound. He knew how skilled were his brother's reflexes now with his extra training, any little sound could waking him up and Mikey didn't wanted to disturb him right now; with all the past events, he thought Leo needed a good sleep and his stupid nightmare wasn't gonna interfere with his big brother's peace.

Once he saw his brother's steady breaths, he went to the kitchen and made some hot cocoa.

While he waited for his hot drink, Mikey took a seat and tried to calm himself.

"Relax Mikey. Everything's fine… they're ok… nothing's wrong" Mikey mumbled.

He could still see the nightmare, the images of his brothers dying, the terror that he felt when The Shredder raised his gauntlet. He had felt afraid of The Shredder but this was a fear like he had never experienced before in his young life. He also remembered the fear he felt when Karai destroyed his old lair. How scared he was when she appeared dressed up like her mean father and his big brother and protector, Leonardo, wasn't there. He thought he was going to die that night… and when his brother came back… he would only find his brothers' corpses!

Mikey started to sob softly again, covering his face with both hands. He felt like a helpless child… if Raph saw him, he surely would mock him for that… telling him how childish and weak he was for crying just because of a nightmare. He jumped back when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Mikey?" Leo's voice; sleepy but still calmed.

"L-Leo? What… w-what are you d-doing up? It's late" Mikey said avoiding his brother's gaze.

"I was going to ask you the same question" Leo answered taking a seat beside his baby brother.

"I'm… I'm ok… it's just… I…" Mikey couldn't find the right words in that moment. He so wanted to be hugged and comforted by his big brother right now but he thought that would be really childish.

"Bad dream?" Leo asked, concern clearly noticed in his voice.

"N-no… no, it's not that"

"Then, why are you crying?"

"I'm… I'm not…" Mikey said wiping his tears away.

"Michelangelo…" that voice, the serious voice. How much he feared that voice, because that voice meant business.

"It's just… well…"

"Why don't you calm down first and then you tell what happen, ok? Just take your time" Leo said rubbing his brother's shell.

Once the hot cocoa was ready, Mikey took deep breaths before start talking.

"Well… the thing is… eh… yeah, I had a bad dream. But it wasn't so bad… I mean, I've had nightmares before, it's nothing new" Mikey said nervously still avoiding Leo's gaze.

"Ok… but if that nightmare of yours wasn't so bad, like you said, then… why were you crying and trembling? It had to be a really bad nightmare"

"Leo… please, I-I… I don't…" Mikey stuttered giving a sip to his hot drink.

"Mikey, I can't help you if you don't tell me what's going on; you can trust me on this"

"Ok… here's the deal: every night since you left I've been having the same nightmare; we're fighting The Shredder but we're losing. One by one, you fell down… dead. Then I'm cornered, I can only see your dead bodies in front of me! Finally, The Shredder raises his gauntlet and… and…" Mikey felt the tears coming again.

"So that's your nightmare, huh? Hmmm… and you said you'd been having the same nightmare since… when?"

"Since… s-since y-you went to Japan"

"I see" Leo got closer to Mikey pulling him into a hug "Why didn't you tell me this before?"

"I-I… I tried to… I tried to deal with this… b-by myself" Mikey sobbed.

"Why?"

"I'm… I'm tired to b-be… weak" Mikey stuttered.

"Mikey, you're not weak! You see, everybody has nightmares… Raph, Don, sensei… and they're not weak just because of that"

"It's easy to say for you. You're the Fearless Leader… you don't feel panic or fear" Mikey said a little angry.

"What makes you say that?" Leo asked.

"You've never woken up for a nightmare… or feel panic or fear"

"I've felt panic and fear. Remember the day I returned home?"

"Y-yeah?"

"When I saw the lair all destroyed, I was really scared, afraid, panicked! I thought I've lost you, I thought I've lost my family!" Mikey's eyes widened. Leo, the Fearless Leader had felt… fear?

"But then I found you, guys and… well… I swore to myself once more that nothing in this world will hurt you anymore. Mikey, I know I was acting like a jerk but now I'm here… a completely new Leonardo. And nothing in this world will dare to hurt any of you… not while I'm around, ok?" Leo said smiling and wiping Mikey's tears.

"No one's gonna hurt you, Mikey. I'm here always for you… all of you"

"Thanks Leo, really" Mikey said hugging his brother.

After a few minutes, Leo carried his baby brother to his room. The blue masked ninja covered Mikey with a blanket and placed a soft kiss in his little brother's forehead.

"Good night, Leo"

"Sweet dreams, Mikey" Leo said as he made his way out of the room. For the first time in four months, Mikey wouldn't suffer for that nightmare, not anymore.

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Aww! Brotherly time! I was listening to this song: **"Not while I'm around"**, the Barbra Streisand version and… inspiration came! Hmmm… I wonder what would it be having a big brother? Well, Sara used to play that she was my big sister… *sigh*… ok, now I feel bad again T_T

Reviews please! ^_O


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